This invention relates generally to water sports and specifically relates to water skiing and wakeboarding.
Wakeboarding is a water sport that is becoming increasingly popular worldwide. As more enthusiasts take up the sport, the demand for a greater variety of equipment is continuously growing. By attaching their towrope to a 5-10 foot support member such as a tower or pylon mounted on the watercraft, wakeboarders can jump higher and perform more challenging aerial tricks. Different towrope lengths are required for various wakeboard/water ski tricks, styles, and skill levels.
Towers are patented under the name xe2x80x9cwater sports towing apparatusxe2x80x9d and are available in many configurations and applications. The tower normally has a towrope attachment means mounted to the uppermost, rearmost portion of the structure, commonly called a xe2x80x9cknob.xe2x80x9d Pylons are a pole of various sizes, mounted in the watercraft in various positions with the axis of the pole vertically oriented, and may or may not be supported by cables attached to the watercraft to support the load. The pylon also has a knob on the uppermost end of it. The knob on the tower or pylon may be as high as ten feet from the floor of the watercraft, requiring someone to climb on the watercraft to reach it. The towrope, in current practice, has a loop at the end of it, and loops in several places along its length, which are secured to the watercraft by placing the desired loop over the knob on the tower or pylon.
In the current practice of wakeboarding and/or water skiing, the tow towrope is released, retrieved or adjusted in length or stored manually by a person in the watercraft. The purpose of this invention is to simplify and improve the safety of the towrope handling, storage, reeling out, reeling in tasks by automating these tasks and allowing the remote operation of a device by the driver or other designated operator of the device.
Towropes are made in various configurations, with various materials, and various constructions. Loops are normally provided in the towrope at various lengths to allow the performer to do tricks of various kinds and levels of difficulty, requiring different lengths, at the performer""s discretion. Typically, the towrope will have length indicators of some kind, markers or colors, to assist the operator in selecting the desired length of towrope from the knob to the performer. When a towrope length change is desired, the watercraft must be stopped, the operator must climb to reach the top of the tower/pylon, remove the loop currently in use, select the loop at the desired length, and put that loop on the knob. This may be required in water conditions that cause the watercraft to be rocking, representing a danger to the person doing the towrope adjustment. When the towrope is adjusted to a shorter length, the unused portion of the towrope is left hanging from the knob, which may cause entanglement, or other inconveniences.
Between sessions of performer use, the towrope typically is pulled into the watercraft by one of the occupants, and must be temporarily stored until the next performer""s use. Typically, this is done by piling the towrope on the floor of the watercraft, leading to kinks, knots, and other entanglements in the towrope, which cause inconvenience when the towrope is later used. Additionally, the towrope laying around on the floor of the watercraft can become entangled with the people in the watercraft, and when released for towing use can cause injury to those people. (There are recorded accidents where this was the cause of injury.) When a towrope with knots and tangles is being released from the watercraft, with a skier on the handle end, and the watercraft pulling on the other end, sometimes a person in the watercraft is attempting to untangle the towrope at the same time as the towrope is being pulled tight between the watercraft and the skier. There are recorded incidents of injuries involving the severing of fingers that result from this unsafe condition.
After the day""s activities, the towrope must be stored for future use. Normally this is done by coiling the towrope manually by one of the watercraft occupants and putting it into some storage compartment or location. Improper coiling can also lead to kinking and knots during future use.
Water sports towing operations regulations require that there be a watercraft driver and a separate observer to notify the driver when the performer has fallen or wants a change of speed, towrope length, etc. In addition someone in the watercraft is normally assigned to handle the duties of towrope managementxe2x80x94pulling the towrope in, adjusting the length, letting out the towrope, etc. There is also a regulatory requirement in many states for an assignment of the duty to raise a flag when the performer is in the water to warn other watercrafts of the dangers of the performer in the water and the tow towrope trailing the watercraft in the water. These various tasks for the occupants/operator/driver, combined with the normal fun of the sport, lead to confusion and mistakes in the handling of the towrope leading to unsafe conditions and actions.
If a more automated method of handling the towrope were used, it would reduce the work load on the watercraft crew and reduce the probability of towrope kinks and entanglements, trips and falls and other injuries while adjusting towrope lengths, etc. and allow the driver and crew to focus more on other duties.
At the beginning of an activity, the performer enters the water from the back or side of the watercraft when the watercraft is stationary in the water and the engine is off or in neutral so there is no danger of contact with the propeller. Once the performer is in the water, someone in the watercraft will hand the towrope end to him/her, and the performer will swim away from the watercraft, carrying the towrope with him/her. A flag must be raised at this time. When a safe distance is established, the driver will engage the propeller and move the watercraft slowly away from the performer until the towrope is fully extended at the desired, preset length. The towrope is released from the storage location (mainly a pile on the floor of the watercraft) as the distance from the watercraft increases and someone in the watercraft must manage this to eliminate any kinks, tangles, knots, etc. When the towrope is fully extended, and the performer is ready, the driver applies power and the performer is pulled out of the water to begin the performance. If there are knots and tangles in the towrope, and someone in the watercraft attempts to straighten them out at this time, there is a high probability of their injury.
The performer will continue doing tricks until tired or until a fall occurs. When the performer is back in the water, the flag must be raised, and the watercraft occupants must manage the towrope. The towrope will be 1) pulled in, if the performance is over; 2) adjusted in length if performer requests it; 3) pulled back into position by the watercraft if the performer wishes to continue with the towrope at the existing length. If a change in length is requested, the towrope loop currently engaged on the knob must be removed, the towrope pulled in or released out to the desired length, and the new loop engaged on the knob. If the performance of that performer is finished, the towrope will be pulled into the watercraft and the performer picked up.
Problems related to the towrope length adjustment, manually pulling in and letting out the towrope, and storage of the towrope on the floor of the watercraft, have been noted throughout the history of the sport. People become entangled in the towrope, the towrope becomes kinked and knotted, and towrope length adjustment is an inconvenient and unsafe task in the watercraft during the practice of the sport.
A number of towrope retrievers have been devised but never successfully marketed for both water skiers and wakeboarders. The majority of retrievers were designed with the water skier in mind and thus failed to meet the differing needs of wakeboarders. Conventional retrievers are rigidly mounted and not rotatable on their axis, and are designed for permanent mounting on the rear, or in the hull of a water ski towboat. Wakeboarders find this undesirable as the typical mounting position low in the watercraft does not allow them to perform the highest jumps, and because the rigid reel cannot track the direction of the wakeboarder. This type of towrope retriever is either non-removable or difficult to remove and store.
Existing designs of retrievers are not designed to be attached to a 5-10 foot tower. Adjusting the length of the towrope is equally difficult with current retrievers. Most designs either have no means for measuring out a precise length of towrope, or the means to do so is not easily adaptable for use in conjunction with a wakeboarder""s tower or pylon.
The need for a towrope retrieval system that can be mounted on a wakeboarder""s tower or pylon with rope exit at the knob location and track the movements of the wakeboarder is apparent. Equally clear is the need for a motorized towrope mechanism that can easily and precisely adjust the length of the towrope. A number of towrope retrieving devices have been devised but the majority of these devices are based on a design in which the device is fixed to the stern or lower hull of the watercraft. For example, there are retrieving devices designed to automatically rewind the towrope onto a spool or reel once it has been released by the water skier. One such device achieves this result using a spring operated retrieval mechanism fixed to the rear of the watercraft to automatically coil up the towrope after its release, while the other is similarly attached to the rear of the watercraft but uses a reverse polarity motor to automatically retract the line.
Another retrieving device consists of a housing enclosing a motor and an exposed drum or shaft. However, the device is also mounted on the rear of a watercraft. The housing contains a recess through which the shaft extends and into which a reel with an attached operating handle is inserted to hold the towrope.
Another towrope retriever is fixed to the hull of the watercraft, and it reels in or lets out towrope to adjust the length while the skier is performing. This retriever uses a heavy-duty winch to slowly pull in the towrope to a specified length, which is detected by a separate measuring device. These adjustments are controlled using a module mounted onto the dash of the watercraft.
A common feature of these devices is that they are all mounted to the lower hull of the watercraft and are large, heavy devices unsuitable for mounting on a tower or pylon. This limits the height of the jumps wakeboarders can perform and makes tracking the direction of the wakeboarder impossible. Thus, there is a need for a compact and lightweight towrope retrieval system consisting of a unit that can be mounted on a wakeboarder""s tower and may be capable of rotating to track the movements of the wakeboarder. In addition there is a need for a remote operated motorized towrope mechanism that can easily and precisely adjust the length of the towrope, and store the towrope when not in use to eliminate knots and kinks, and to improve safety of operations. To meet the needs of wakeboarders such a device must also be designed for easy removal and storage.
The present invention satisfies these needs. This invention is a towrope retriever system for a watercraft, in which the towrope retriever is connected to or integrated into a support unit such as a tower or pylon securely attached to the watercraft and substantially increasing the overall height of the watercraft allowing the performer to jump higher and perform more challenging aerial maneuvers. The retriever unit may be rotatable to allow the performer a greater flexibility of movement and can be easily removed for storage.
In a preferred embodiment, the towrope retriever has a main housing connected to the support unit; an electronic control unit; a reel for reeling a towrope having an attachment end attached to said reel and a handle end, said reel being axially mounted in the main housing; a motor operatively connected to the reel and electrically controlled by the electrical control unit for providing rotational power to the reel; and a rope holding device for securely holding the towrope at a selected length.
In an alternative embodiment, the reel is concentrically mounted on the motor.
The support unit may be a pylon being rigidly attached to the watercraft.
In another embodiment, said watercraft includes-a bow, a stern, and a starboard gunwale and a port side gunwale located between the bow and the stern, and the support unit is a tower being rigidly attached to the starboard gunwale and the port side gunwale.
Variations on motor specification and configuration are possible. The motor may be powered by electrical power supplied from a power supply on the watercraft. The motor may be capable of forward and reverse operation, or unidirectional operation. The motor may be adapted to provide reverse torque to hold the towrope in position. The motor may be capable of variable speed operation, or fixed speed operation.
The electronic control unit may include an electric speed switch to adjust rotational speed of the motor and/or an electric direction switch to adjust rotational direction of the motor.
The main housing may further include a split collar for rotatably connecting the towrope retriever to a knob on the watercraft.
The towrope retriever system could further comprise a quick release mechanism, allowing easy removal of the towrope retriever from the knob. The towrope retriever system could also comprise one or more visual length indicators placed on the towrope.
The main housing could further comprise a measurement reference point for measuring length of the towrope from said measurement reference point to the handle end.
The electronic control unit may be a wireless handheld device, or an integrated wired device.
The towrope retriever system having the reel concentrically mounted on the motor could further comprise: a safety clutch having an input side and an output side, said safety clutch being configured to be driven by the motor on said input side; a motor-to-spool drive housing being engageably connected to the safety clutch at the output side thereof and fixedly mounted onto the reel for transmitting torque from the motor to the reel; and a ratchet pawl assembly being configured to prevent motion of the reel in a reel-out direction. In such embodiment of the towrope retriever system, said ratchet pawl assembly may comprise: a solenoid, a pawl catch, a ratchet pawl, a trip lever, and a pawl spring; such that said ratchet pawl assembly prevents motion of the reel by engagement of said pawl with said ratchet wheel, whereupon the reel being driven by the motor in a reel-in direction, said ratchet moves said trip lever into engagement with said pawl catch and holds said ratchet pawl out of engagement with said ratchet wheel, thereby allowing free rotation of the reel.
In a preferred embodiment, the safety clutch may be adapted to slip when torque from the concentric motor or the concentric spool exceeds a predetermined torque setting.
The electronic control unit may include an electric release switch to release the solenoid, thereby allowing the towrope to be reeled out when pull on said towrope exceeds a predetermined clutch setting.
The electronic control unit may include an electric reel-in switch to activate the motor in a reel-in direction to disengage said ratchet pawl.
the electronic control unit may include an electric lock switch to activate said solenoid to release said ratchet pawl, such that the ratchet pawl engages and locks the reel.
The electronic control unit may include an automatic towrope length adjuster.
The towrope retriever system may further comprise a towrope length measuring device for measuring a length of the towrope being reeled out.
The towrope retriever system may also include the towrope retriever being integrated into the support unit.